Lawmaker’s gaffe prompts rethink of Japan’s age of consent

Earlier in June, a comment from opposition politician Hiranao Honda sparked anger and derision throughout Japanese media and social media. During a recent meeting on revising the current age of consent, Honda said, “It is absurd if a 50 something-year-old like myself and a 14-year-old have consensual sex and I get arrested.” Soon after, Flower Demo activists and victims of sexual violence submitted a request for a preventive measure to his party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP).

Honda later apologized and retracted his comment after a strong backlash. Last month, he left his party and resigned his position as a member of the House of Representatives.

What’s the world standard for age of consent?

The age of consent is the minimum age at which an individual is deemed legally competent to consent to sexual activities. Individuals under this age can’t legally engage in sexual activities. Furthermore, any person who engages in such activities with an individual under this age may be prosecuted for rape. Japan’s age of consent, at 13, is low by global standards and the lowest in the developed world. This regulation was established as part of the Penal Code of Japan in 1907 and has not been changed since.

Meanwhile, many countries around the world are raising the age of consent to better protect children from sexual violence. In South Korea, it was raised to 16 from 13 in 2020. France introduced a minimum age of consent at 15 after multiple cases of sexual violence against minors. In the UK, people can consent to sex from the age of 16, and countries including Russia, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada and South Africa are in line with this.

What’s happening in Japan to change the status quo?

In November 2020, a campaign group, Your Voice Matters, submitted a petition to the Ministry of Justice, requesting that Japan’s legal age of consent be raised from 13 to 16. The group was organized by female university students who were saddened to learn how low Japan’s age of consent is. The campaign collected more than 50,000 signatures on Change.org.

Later in June, after scrutiny within the party, CDP announced that raising the legal age of consent from 13 to 16 will be one of their campaign promises for the 2021 general election, which is to take place in October. Subsequently, the party submitted a proposal to the Minister of Justice, Yoko Kamikawa, to reform the Penal Code and criminalize sex with people under the age of 16.

Under Fornication Ordinance, all prefectures already prohibit sexual misconduct involving individuals under 18 years old. However, these statutes only apply to cases where there is clear evidence of assault, abuse or contact without consent. As Your Voice Matters points out, this imposes additional trauma and stress on young victims of sexual violence. More importantly, it also fails to account for the inability of children to fully consent to a sexual relationship, particularly with an adult. To truly protect vulnerable teenagers and children, Japan should amend this outdated century-year-old law now.